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From: Public Campaign

Money in Politics 2009: New Horizons for Campaign Reform

Last Friday, experts from all across the country gathered to examine and discuss the 2008 election results, how money in politics affected those elections, and new possibilities for campaign finance reform. The conference, held by the Brennan Center for Justice at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., provided a forum for those working on campaign finance reform to exchange ideas through panel discussions. These panels delved into the issues of campaign financing and the Internet, constitutional concerns, and the small donor revolution. They also covered prospects for congressional and presidential public financing.

Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) kicked off the day with optimism and enthusiasm, touting the Fair Elections Now Act. She noted the current system of constant fundraising is simply untenable. “That doesn’t seem like any way to run a democracy,” she commented. Offering the Fair Elections Now Act as a viable alternative to the current system, she believes the time for change is now. “This is our moment in time,” she declared. Others echoed a similar sentiment. Nick Nyhart, Public Campaign’s president and CEO, spoke on the last panel of the day and affirmed that “now absolutely is the moment to win this kind of reform.

”The Fair Elections Now Act is a multifaceted proposal. The bill will open the political process to broader participation by engaging small donors and freeing candidates from the fundraising treadmill. “It’s a system driven entirely by small donors,” Nyhart noted. “This model of public financing amplifies the voices of ordinary Americans. This system turns social capital into political capital and turns community leaders into political leaders,“ Nyhart explained.

The one-day conference ended with remarks by actor Sam Waterston, a supporter of the Fair Elections Now Act and Public Campaign. “Every one of us is a stakeholder in what goes on in that dome just down the road and therefore the process by which these women and men who represent us are elected and the conditions under which they serve are vital to us all,” said Waterston. “In campaign season we want the voters to be the most important focus of every candidate’s attention, but the [current] system demands they make donors their focus...You’re all here to make things right, united in an effort to win public financing through the Fair Elections Now Act and are in it until we win.”

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